VA Military Memories Competition
TSgt Timothy Montjoy, U.S. Air Force (1996-2016)
Of all your duty stations you were assigned to from your Military Service, which one(s) do you have fondest memories of and why?:
While I am truly mesmerized by history, this historic and absolute 1-of-a-kind piece is easily my most prized possession from my phenomenal 20-year (and 11 days) Air Force career. In July 1944, on his 28th combat mission, a bombing run over Vienna, Austria, Paul W. Airey was forced to bail out of his flak-damaged aircraft over Hungary. He was captured by the German military and was taken to Stalag Luft IV, a prisoner of war (POW) camp near the Baltic Sea for Allied airmen. In February 1945, Airey and 6,000 fellow POWs were forced to march 400 miles to another camp near Berlin as the Soviet Red Army got closer. He was liberated in May 1945 by British forces.
Cpl Valieria Lara, U.S. Marine Corps (2017-2021)
Who or what influenced your decision to join the military? Which service branch did you select, and what do you remember most about joining up?:
I guess you could say the American Dream is what influenced me to join the military. As a daughter of Mexican immigrants, I experienced my parents building a dream for themselves that came true. They came to the United States with really nothing but hunger to better their lives for themselves and their children. I saw all these opportunities that were granted to my family to achieve this dream solely because they were on American soil.
1LT Colleen Bies, U.S. Army (2001-2014)
Who or what influenced your decision to join the military? Which service branch did you select, and what do you remember most about joining up?:
I was influenced to join the military because my father told me I was a weak, pathetic girl and that the best thing I could do for my life was to marry a man, have children, and be a good wife and mother.
Sgt Ramon Aguilar, U.S. Army (1999-2007)
Who or what influenced your decision to join the military? Which service branch did you select, and what do you remember most about joining up?:
What influenced me to enlist in the active army was the overwhelming urge to escape the abusive and toxic home environment I was in. I figured that there was nothing worse than the physical abuse I was receiving from my dad and constantly being called worthless, a loser, or a piece of sh* by my mother. Due to the constant physical and psychological abuse, I had a very low self-esteem, and self-worth and no clear sense of self-identity.”
HM2 Neath Williams, U.S. Navy (1999-2022)
Who or what influenced your decision to join the military? Which service branch did you select, and what do you remember most about joining up?:
You did what? Why?” That’s the question I got from my family and friends. I don’t think I had a simple answer for them at the time. I don’t think anyone who knew me in high school expected me to join the military. I don’t remember considering it an option; then again, I swam competitively 4 days a week at the local university and never considered going to college there. I just wasn’t a kid with a lot of foresight, especially in high school. I was coming up on graduation in 1999, and I knew I was expected to do something, but what that was, I wasn’t sure. I’ll never forget the day the recruiters started showing up in our cafeteria. Their uniforms pressed perfectly, their size, posture, tattoos, and overall confidence. They would always hand out stress balls or little nylon backpacks, and if you stopped and chatted with them for a bit, you might score a t-shirt or ball cap emblazoned with “Let the Journey begin,” GO NAVY or USMC or ARMY. Now, I can’t speak for the other kids in my class, but I didn’t have ties to the military. I had no idea about the differences between the Navy and the Marine Corps, let alone any of the other branches. With over 20 years of military service on my resume, now, I’d like to tell you that I did some research or deep soul-searching to make a decision about which branch to join. Still, if I’m being honest, the Navy recruiter was the coolest and most persistent out of them all, so I chose to let the journey begin and begin it did!
MSgt Kevin Nichols, U.S. Air Force (1996-2017)
Who or what influenced your decision to join the military? Which service branch did you select, and what do you remember most about joining up?:
It wasn’t that my oldest brother was a Marine or that another brother was a Sailor. It wasn’t that my Dad always talked about his DOD sanctioned school as a child during the Manhattan Project days.
That’s not why I joined; that actually influenced me NOT to join. After several calls from Marine recruiters who knew “Gunny Nichols,” I’d tell them I was going to college to make something of myself…so I did.”